Certain string instruments, such as a guitar, can be difficult for beginners due to hand, wrist, and finger pain caused by the pressure required to hold the strings down to form chords. The discomfort is sensed until the beginner develops the necessary toughness in his or her hand muscles and finger tips to overcome the pain. This can often be the limiting factor on beginners continuing to play the instrument.
Some conventional approaches to solving the aforementioned problem have provided a relatively pain free experience but do not provide a realistic experience nor allow a user to learn real instrument skills. For example, certain devices have replaced the strings with push buttons which do not provide a realistic experience nor teach the user how to play a real string instrument, such as a guitar.